Post for supporting tennis nets or the like



Sept. 7, 1926.

H. P. WARREN POST FOR SUPPORTING mums wars on THE LIKE Filed April 27, 1926 V \NVHITOW Jada? 2 Mar/n2 Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'nnannn'r PERCY WARE-EN, or AVOOA VILLA, sour AFRICA.

POST FOR SUPPORTING TENNIS NETS OR THE LIKE.

Application filed April 27, 1926. Serial No. 104,958.

This invention relates to posts for supporting tennis nets or the like which are suspended normally from a wlre, cord or similar flexible member capable of being placed under tension and has for its object improved means, of the type 1n which the free end of the cord or the like is attached to a member such as a sleeve, the vertical position of which on one of the posts is adjustable at will, for enabling the tension of said member to be adjusted to enable the height of the net or the like to be varied.

In accordance with this invention one end of a wire, cord orthe like to be strained passes in the known manner over a pulley at the top of a post and is hooked, or otherwise attached, to'a sleeve slidable on said post, which sleeve is connected with, and adapted to be slidden along, the post inthe direction to strain the wire or the like by means of, a lever pivoted to the post and a chain or other connecting member connected withsaid lever and said sleeve, whilst a second chain, adapted at one end to engage in one of a stepped series of notches formed in the sleeve and at the other end to engage with one of a stepped series of hooks attached to the post, is provided for securing said sleeve in the position to which it is moved, so as to retain the wire or the like under tension. 7

The invention is applicable to a variety of purposes of which the simplest is the tensioning of a clothes line, butprimarily it is intended for use in connection with ten nis nets, and the accompanying drawings illustrate one form thereof for the purpose last mentioned, Figure 1 being a sectional elevation of the post for one end of a net (not shown), Figure 2 an elevation of the post for the other end of the net, Figure 3 an elevation of the support or socket for a post as viewed from'the right of Figure. 1,

whilst Figure 4: is an enlarged elevation of r a detail as viewed from the left of Figure 2.

The posts a and b are of tubular metal and each is slotted longitudinally at its up per end as at c to give passage to a pulley (Z rotatable on a spindle e which (passes through apertures in the post and in a sheet metal cap 7 which covers the upper end of the post. The post a has riveted thereto, in line with its pulley d, a longitudinal series of hooks g, for the attachment of an eye it at one end of the cord j of the tennis not (not shown). The lower ends of the posts a and b are adapted to be received each in a tubular socket is to which are clamped plates on and n, disposed on opposite sides thereof and facing the' direction of the strain to be imposed, i. e. the plates m and a lie in planes normal to the direction oi the cord In order to facilitate true alignment of the pulleys d d with one another when the posts a and Z) are placed in the sockets 7c (assuming the latter to have been embedded correctly in the ground) each socket his slotted at its upper end as at 0 and a lugsuch as 7) adapted to be received in a slot 0 is secured to each post a and b by a clamp q.

The post I) has slidable thereon a sleeve 7' furnished on one side with a hook s to which may be attached an eye it at the end of the cord j, and at the other side with a lug 2, to which are attached two lengths' of chain a and '0. Pivoted to the clamp q of the post 6 is a lever w with which the chain a is connected, said lever serving, when swung down, as indicated in brokenlines-in Figure 2, to slide the sleeve r down the post Z) and thus strain the cord j. Normally, when not required, the lever w is held close to the post 6 by a loop a: pivoted to said post and adapted to be swung over the free end V of said lever. The chain 1) is attached to the lug t of the sleeve r by the passage of one of its links through a slot 3 with stepped notches at the lower side thereof and others of its links may be engaged with any one of three books 2 riveted as an in tegral structure (see Figures 3 and 4) to the post 6, the hooks 2 being stepped or arranged at different heights. The provision of the stepped notches in the slot y and the stepped hooks zenable a fine adjustment to be obtained when, after the sleeve "I' has been slidden on the post 6 by forcing down the lever 10, it is desired to secure said sleeve and maintain the cord j under the required tension. When the invention is used for purposes where it is requiredto vary the height of the poles at and I) this may be donereadily by altering the positions of the clamps g, g. The leverage obtained by means of the improved arrangement enables the cord 9' to be strained very readily in a much shorter time than would be occupied by the'more usual ratchet and pawl mechanism.

Means for straining a wire, cord or like member comprising a post, a guide on said post over which said member passes, a sleeve slidable'on said post, means on said sleeve adapted for the attachment thereto of said member, a lever pivoted to said post and connected with said sleeve, said lever being adapted to cause said sleeve to slide along said post and a chain adapted at one end to engage with any one of a stepped series of notches on said sleeve and at the other end to engage with any one of a stepped series of hooks attached to said post, said chain being adapted to secure said sleeve in the position to which it is moved, soas to retain the strained nieinbei' under tension.

HER-BERT PERCY lVARREN. 

